Occurrence and Ecological Risk Assessment of Highly Toxic Halogenated Byproducts during Chlorination Decolorization of Textile Printing and Dyeing Wastewater.

Textile printing and dyeing wastewater is a substantial source of highly toxic halogenated pollutants because of the chlorination decolorization. However, information on the occurrence and fate of the highly toxic halogenated byproducts, which are produced by chlorination decolorization of the textile printing and dyeing wastewater, is very limited. In this study, the occurrence of six categories of halogenated byproducts (haloacetic acids (HAAs), haloacetonitriles (HANs), -nitrosamines (NAs), trihalomethanes, halogenated ketones, and halonitromethanes) was investigated along the full-scale treatment processes of textile printing and dyeing wastewater treatment plants.

Proteomic insights from extracellular vesicles into the molecular mechanisms of health effects induced by Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) can induce a range of adverse health effects, with the precise molecular mechanisms remaining elusive. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have demonstrated their potential to elucidate unknown molecular mechanisms. Building upon the close alignment of their biological functions with the observed health effects of PFASs, this study innovatively focuses on proteomic insights from EVs into the molecular mechanisms underlying the systemic health effects of PFASs.

Chiral Nanoclusters as Alternative Therapeutic Strategies to Confront the Health Threat from Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens.

(), a drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogen, is listed among the "critical" group of pathogens by the World Health Organization urgently needing efficacious antibiotics in the clinics. Nanomaterials especially silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) due to the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity are tested in antimicrobial therapeutic applications. Pathogens rapidly develop resistance to AgNPs; however, the health threat from antibiotic-resistant pathogens remains challenging.

Facet-dependent transformation and toxicity of nanoscale zinc oxide in the synthetic saliva.

The nanoscale zinc oxide (n-ZnO) was used in food packages due to its superior antibacterial activity, resulting in potential intake of n-ZnO through the digestive system, wherein n-ZnO interacted with saliva. In recent, facet engineering, a technique for controlling the exposed facets, was applied to n-ZnO, whereas risk of n-ZnO with specific exposed facets in saliva was ignored. ZnO nanoflakes (ZnO-0001) and nanoneedles (ZnO-1010) with the primary exposed facets of {0001} and {1010} respectively were prepared in this study, investigating stability and toxicity of ZnO-0001 and ZnO-1010 in synthetic saliva.

Uptake, accumulation and toxicity of short chain chlorinated paraffins to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are ubiquitous persistent organic pollutants. They have been widely detected in plant-based foods and might cause adverse impacts on humans. Nevertheless, uptake and accumulation mechanisms of SCCPs in plants remain unclear.

Transformation, Absorption and Toxicological Mechanisms of Silver Nanoparticles in the Gastrointestinal Tract Following Oral Exposure.

Oral exposure is known as the primary way for silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which are commonly used as food additives or antibacterial agents in commercial products, to enter the human body. Although the health risk of AgNPs has been a concern and extensively researched over the past few decades, there are still numerous knowledge gaps that need to be filled to disclose what AgNPs experience in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and how they cause oral toxicity. In order to gain more insight into the fate of AgNPs in the GIT, the main gastrointestinal transformation of AgNPs, including aggregation/disaggregation, oxidative dissolution, chlorination, sulfuration, and corona formation, is first described.

Generation Mechanism of Perfluorohexanesulfonic Acid from Polyfluoroalkyl Sulfonamide Derivatives During Chloramination in Drinking Water.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), as emerging persistent organic pollutants widely detected in drinking water, have drawn increasing concern. The PFHxS contamination of drinking water always results from direct and indirect sources, especially the secondary generations through environmental transformations of precursors. However, the mechanism of the transformation of precursors to PFHXS during the drinking water treatment processes remains unclear.

Aggregation, Sedimentation and Dissolution of Cu(OH)-Nanorods-Based Nanopesticide in Soil Solutions.

Along with the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials have been gradually applied to agriculture in recent years, such as Cu(OH)-nanorods-based nanopesticide, an antibacterial agrochemical with a high efficacy. Nevertheless, knowledge about physical stability of Cu(OH) nanopesticide in soil solutions is currently scarce, restricting comprehensive understanding of the fate and risk of Cu(OH) nanopesticide in the soil environment. Herein we investigated aggregation, sedimentation and dissolution of Cu(OH) nanopesticide in soil solutions extracted from three different soil samples, wherein commercial Cu(OH) nanopesticide formulation (NPF), as well as its active ingredient (AI) and laboratory-prepared Cu(OH) nanorods (NR) with similar morphology as AI, were used as model Cu(OH) nanopesticides.

Effect of polar/non-polar facets on the transformation of nanoscale ZnO in simulated sweat and potential impacts on the antibacterial activity.

The use of nanoscale zinc oxide (n-ZnO) in the personal care products would cause interactions between n-ZnO and human sweat. Facet engineering has been applied to n-ZnO to improve its activity. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether the exposed facet would affect transformation of n-ZnO in sweat.

COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts on Humans Taking Antibiotics in China.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the increased human consumption of medicines. Antibiotics are of great concern due to their adverse effects, such as increased bacterial resistance and dysbiosis of gut microbiota. Nevertheless, very little is known about the changes in self-medication with antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant potential health risks.

Exploring the origin of efficient adsorption of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in household point-of-use water purifiers: Deep insights from a joint experimental and computational study.

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are harmful chemicals to humans and widely detected in water bodies including tap water. PFAS cannot be efficiently removed from water through conventional treatment processes used in full-scale drinking water treatment plants, posing a latent risk to human health via drinking tap water. Here in-field investigations show that the household point-of-use (POU) water purifiers constituted with coconut shell activated carbon can achieve 21%-99% removal for 14 legacy and emerging PFAS in tap water based on the ratio of influent and effluent.

Response of soil enzyme activity and bacterial community to copper hydroxide nanofertilizer and its ionic analogue under single versus repeated applications.

Nanosized agrochemicals like nanofertilizers are being applied to soils. Adverse impacts of nanofertilizers on soil microflora were reported in past studies, but only considering a single application. Repeated applications are however more likely to occur in agriculture.

Identification and Speciation of Nanoscale Silver in Complex Solid Matrices by Sequential Extraction Coupled with Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry.

Nanoscale silver (n-Ag) including silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), silver chloride nanoparticles (AgCl-NPs), and silver sulfide nanoparticles (AgS-NPs) and their corresponding ionic counterpart, namely, dissolved Ag, may coexist in soils. X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) is used to elucidate the speciation of n-Ag in soils, whereas it possesses drawbacks like high costs, rare availability of the instrument, and providing semiquantitative data. We developed a new method for the identification and speciation of n-Ag in soils and sediments based on a sequential extraction technique coupled with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry.

Chemical transformations of nanoscale zinc oxide in simulated sweat and its impact on the antibacterial efficacy.

Nanoscale zinc oxide (n-ZnO) is widely used in personal care products and textiles, thus, it would likely be released into human sweat. To better evaluate the potential human health risks of n-ZnO, it is essential to understand its chemical transformations in physiological solutions, such as human sweat, and the resulting changes in the n-ZnO bioavailability. Here, two types of n-ZnO, ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and nanorod-based ZnO nanospheres (ZnO-NSs) were synthesized and incubated in 3 types of simulated sweat with different pH values and phosphate concentrations.

Pesticide multi-residues in Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo: Method validation, residue levels and dietary exposure risk assessment.

Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo (D. officinale) is a dual-use plant with both botanical medicine and food applications, drawing increasing attentions. Pesticides are inevitably applied on D.

Environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic exhibits negligible impacts on thiacloprid dissipation and enzyme activity in soil.

Microplastics (MPs) as a type of emerging contaminant in the environment have attracted extensive attentions in recent years, and understanding the impacts of MPs on soil biodiversity and functioning are thus increasingly urgent. Nevertheless, few studies were performed to investigate potential effects of MPs on decay of soil organic pollutants in particular pesticides and enzyme activities. Herein, three types of MPs including polystyrene fragments (PS-50) and polyvinyl chloride beads (PVC-42000 and PVC-10) were added to soil at environmentally relevant concentrations (0.

Sulfidation of sea urchin-like zinc oxide nanospheres: Kinetics, mechanisms, and impacts on growth of Escherichia coli.

Nanoscale zinc oxide (n-ZnO) with different morphology and sizes has been used in personal care products due to their antibacterial properties, resulting in discharge of n-ZnO into the environment with potential toxic effect to ecological systems. Sulfidation is one of pathways of transformation of n-ZnO, but a very limited information on the conversion of n-ZnO under sulfidic environment with special morphology such as sea urchin-like zinc oxide nanospheres (ZnO-NSs) is available to know the potential environmental risks of n-ZnO. Herein, sea urchin-like ZnO-NSs with an average size of 78 nm were synthesized and adopted as the model n-ZnO of special morphology.

Assessing the Impacts of Cu(OH) Nanopesticide and Ionic Copper on the Soil Enzyme Activity and Bacterial Community.

Nanopesticides are being introduced in agriculture, and the associated environmental risks and benefits must be carefully assessed before their widespread agricultural applications. We investigated the impacts of a commercial Cu(OH) nanopesticide formulation (NPF) at different agricultural application doses (e.g.

A universal aptasensing platform based on cryonase-assisted signal amplification and graphene oxide induced quenching of the fluorescence of labeled nucleic acid probes: application to the detection of theophylline and ATP.

This study describes a universal fluorometric method for sensitive detection of analytes by using aptamers. It is based on the use of graphene oxide (GO) and cryonase-assisted signal amplification. GO is a strong quencher of FAM-labeled nucleic acid probes, while cryonase digests all types of nucleic acid probes.

Defect-Abundant Covalent Triazine Frameworks as Sunlight-Driven Self-Cleaning Adsorbents for Volatile Aromatic Pollutants in Water.

Covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) with high adsorption potential and photocatalytic ability features are expected to be designed as a new class of adsorbents that can regenerate themselves just by harnessing sunlight. To simultaneously improve both the adsorption and photocatalytic regeneration performance, a defect-abundant CTF-m was designed and tuned effectively by varying the lengths of benzene ring chains incorporated into the CTF backbone. It has been demonstrated that two kinds of defects in terms of broken benzene rings and pyrrole nitrogen were newly generated, other than the normal benzene rings and triazine units in the CTF-m skeleton.

Potential environmental risks of nanopesticides: Application of Cu(OH) nanopesticides to soil mitigates the degradation of neonicotinoid thiacloprid.

Cu(OH) nanopesticides and organic insecticides are continuously applied to soil at a temporal interval, while knowledge about the impact of Cu(OH) nanopesticides on organic insecticides degradation is currently scarce, resulting in poorly comprehensive evaluation of the potential environmental risks of Cu(OH) nanopesticides. Herein, a commercial Cu(OH) nanopesticide formulation (NPF), the active ingredient of NPF (AI-NPF), the prepared Cu(OH) nanotubes (NT) with comparable morphology and size to AI-NPF, and CuSO were respectively applied to soil at normal doses (0.5, 5 and 50 mg/kg), followed by an application of neonicotinoid thiacloprid after an interval of 21 d, showing that NPF at doses of 5 and 50 mg/kg significantly (p < 0.